Many Voices, One Message: The Ancient Roots of Modern Therapy

"Stop trying to leave, and you will arrive". — Lao Tzu

When I sit with my patients, I often hear questions that reach beyond symptoms: Why am I here? What is the point of everything? Why do I suffer? How do I live a life that feels like I matter?

In our postmodern, materialistic age, we’ve lost both the confidence that truth exists and the sense that life is sacred. Postmodernism has dismantled our shared stories, while materialism has reduced human beings to mechanisms. Together, they’ve left many people searching for meaning in a world that feels both disenchanted and shallow.

These questions are not new, of course, but in our time it has become harder to find answers that truly satisfy the human spirit — answers that restore balance, direction, and wholeness. Life has become a journey where we must create our own meaning. Yet despite this modern crisis, we can take comfort in knowing that human beings have always wrestled with these same questions, no matter the era or culture.

Long before psychology gave us the language of therapy, people turned to philosophers, poets, and spiritual teachers for guidance. Across every tradition, the same message echoes through the centuries: suffering can be transformed, and meaning can heal.

Materialism describes the least of what something is — never its essence. It has not healed the human condition. The voices of those who came before us still have great value, reminding us that what ultimately sustains us is not possession or so-called “progress”, but purpose.

Meaning and Modern Therapy

Modern psychology may use different words, but at its heart, it continues the same ancient search — the search to understand suffering and to transform it into growth. The existential psychologist Rollo May wrote that “The purpose of therapy is to set people free.” He believed that freedom does not mean escaping life’s challenges, but facing them with courage and authenticity.

May argued that anxiety, despair, and uncertainty are not merely symptoms to be eliminated — they are invitations to live more deeply. He called this the courage to be. True freedom was facing pain without retreat.

None of this is meant to minimize anyone’s suffering or to make light of the pain, injustice, or difficult circumstances life can bring. These realities are profoundly human and deserve compassion, not dismissal. But even so, the truth remains: the courage to move forward is the only path available to us. The only way out is through. Healing requires that we decide, again and again, to be the hero of our own story — to walk forward, even when the way ahead is uncertain.

This vision echoes what the ancients taught: that true healing does not come from removing struggle, but from discovering what it reveals about who we are and what we value. Once we know what we value, we are called to act upon it. Healing is both inner transformation and outward expression — the movement of insight into life. Action matters because it is the living proof of inner change, the point where reflection becomes reality. Facing and exposing ourselves to the uncomfortable is necessary. Quality therapy will help you learn skills to do just that.

“Materialism describes the least of what something is…”

Healing Begins Within

Every spiritual and philosophical tradition, which we can view as early predecessors of modern psychology and therapy, begin with the same recognition: before the world can change, the heart must. Healing is not something imposed from the outside; it begins in the inner work of awareness, humility, and self-understanding. The mind and soul must be turned toward what is good before our lives can move in that direction.

“The transformation of our inner world is not accomplished by a single act, but by a continual turning of the mind and heart toward what is good.”
— Father Alexis Trader, Ancient Christian Wisdom and Aaron Beck’s Cognitive Therapy

“The mind is everything. What you think, you become.”
— The Buddha

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts.”
— The Dhammapada

“We are not disturbed by things, but by the view we take of them.”
— Epictetus

“The true perfection of human nature consists in its never arriving at a limit to growth in the ascent to God.”
— St. Gregory of Nyssa

“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.”
— Rumi

Healing begins within — but it does not end there. Awareness without movement becomes stagnation. The next step is to translate insight into action — to live out the truths we have discovered.

Healing Requires Action

The ancients understood that wisdom without practice is hollow. Meaning must be embodied in the choices we make, the habits we form, and the ways we show up in the world. Healing requires not only reflection, but motion — a willingness to take one small step forward, even when the road ahead feels uncertain.

“Let a man lift himself by his own self; let him not lower himself. For the Self alone is the friend of the self, and the Self alone is the enemy of the self.”
— Bhagavad Gita 6:5

“Faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”
— James 2:17

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
— Viktor E. Frankl

“The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
— Socrates

“Do not be afraid of moving slowly. Be afraid only of standing still.”
— Chinese Proverb

Healing is both insight and responsibility — a call to align our actions with what we have come to understand. The way forward is never only inward or outward; it is both. Insight finds completion in practice, and meaning is realized when it is lived.

Conclusion: The Way Forward

Healing is never a straight line, nor is it instant. It is the slow, steady work of aligning our inner life with our outer actions — of learning, again and again, how to live in harmony with what we value most. It requires courage to face our pain, honesty to see ourselves clearly, and faith — in whatever form it takes — that growth is possible.

The ancients called this many things; modern psychology might call it integration or individuation. Whatever the name, the process is the same: we meet ourselves, we change how we see, and we act upon that new understanding.

The way forward is both inward and onward. If you’re seeking guidance on that path — to understand your story, find meaning in struggle, and begin living more fully — reach out. Therapy can be a great tool in getting you started on your journey.

—
Joseph Mounts M.Ed., AADC, LPC

References

Beck, A. T. (1979). Cognitive therapy and the emotional disorders. Penguin Books.

Bible. (2001). The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Crossway Bibles.

Dhammapada. (1994). In E. Easwaran (Trans.), The Dhammapada (2nd ed.). Nilgiri Press. (Original work published ca. 3rd century BCE)

Epictetus. (2008). Discourses and selected writings (R. Dobbin, Trans.). Penguin Classics. (Original work published ca. 108 CE)

Frankl, V. E. (2006). Man’s search for meaning (I. Lasch, Trans.). Beacon Press. (Original work published 1946)

Gregory of Nyssa. (1954). The life of Moses (A. J. Malherbe & E. Ferguson, Trans.). Paulist Press. (Original work published ca. 4th century CE)

James, The Apostle. (n.d.). The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Crossway Bibles. (Original work published ca. 1st century CE)

May, R. (1983). The discovery of being: Writings in existential psychology. W. W. Norton.

Milton, J. (1667). Paradise lost. London: Samuel Simmons.

Rumi. (1995). The essential Rumi (C. Barks, Trans.). HarperCollins. (Original work published ca. 13th century CE)

Trader, A. (2011). Ancient Christian wisdom and Aaron Beck’s cognitive therapy: A meeting of minds. Peter Lang.

The Bhagavad Gita. (2007). In E. Easwaran (Trans.), The Bhagavad Gita (2nd ed.). Nilgiri Press. (Original work published ca. 2nd century BCE)

Yalom, I. D. (1980). Existential psychotherapy. Basic Books.